Set Me Free
by Kaeru Soyokaze
Summary: The story of HellMaster Phibrizzo's terror, as told from the viewpoint of one of his puppets, a little girl named Mera. One-shot.


First off, this is my first Slayers fic. Understand, I'm not asking you to go easy on me. But I'm going to clarify some things.  
  
First off- There are some Japanese suffixes used in this. I understand that the Slayers world is not Japan-based, but I feel like using some of the words, so humor me. If it bugs you a lot, don't read it.  
  
I do not own any of these characters, understand? This entire story is told from the viewpoint of the little girl in Sairaag who tried to attack Lina in episode 50 of NEXT. Yes, it is a one-shot. Thank you.  
  
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I creep silently through the shadowy streets, passing by the darkened houses without a sound. They loom over me, like grim foreboding figures, condemning me for what I am doing. What _am_ I, a little girl, doing? Why am I clutching a knife in my hand? Truthfully, I don't have a choice in the matter.  
  
My name is Mera. I'm seven years old and I'm dead. But maybe that isn't the best place to start. I start thinking as I continue my purposeful walk…back to when it first began.  
  
I lived with my daddy in Sairaag. My mommy died when I was only three and Daddy took care of me ever since. I loved him a lot, but he was always traveling. I wasn't allowed to go with him, so during that time, I would stay with these two nice people-- Sylphiel Nels Rada and her father, Eruk. Sylphiel was like a big sister to me and so I called her Oneechan. I followed her everywhere! When she went to heal one of our neighbors, I went too. When she went out for food, I'd go with her. She always had a lot of patience with me and never sent me home, like my daddy did whenever I tagged after him for too long. She'd always tell me stories about this man named Gourry Gabriev, although she just called him Gourry-sama. Every time I was with her, she'd start listing off all his good qualities. I even got to see him when he and his friends came to Sairaag! Unfortunately for Oneechan, he had a girlfriend. Her name was Lina Inverse and she scared me. Luckily, I never talked to her. And then there were two others who showed up-- but I didn't know about them until after I died: Princess Amelia wil Tesla Seyruun and Zelgadis Graywords. But I'm losing track. Daddy would call that "wandering off track". I do that a lot.  
  
Anyway, Daddy had to go travel to Atlas City for something. I didn't want him to go, but he just told me that Eruk-san and Oneechan would take care of me and he'd bring me back a present.  
  
"Be a good girl, Mera," he said to me, patting me on the head before he left.  
  
I died that day.

I was getting ready to go to Eruk-san's house and there was this light, and lots of yelling. There was also a bubble with people in it…I saw Oneechan. And then everything around me exploded in eruptions of bright red and black, and there was a lot of pain, and then I was dead. I learned later that a bad man named Kopii Rezo did it, but Oneechan and everyone made him go away for good. But no one could bring me back.  
  
I became a ghost. Eruk-san died too, along with a lot of my neighbors. Oneechan survived, but moved away to live with her uncle. My daddy came back too late. He cried, and then he went away. I tried to talk to him, but he couldn't hear me. So I cried too, and Eruk-san held me.  
  
Gradually, I grew used to being dead. I kept watch over Oneechan, who now had something in common with me: we had both lost our fathers, only mine was alive and hers was dead. I even checked in on Gourry-san for her. He seemed to be doing fine, although Lina Inverse kept calling him mean names. I bet if he had been with Oneechan, she would've been a lot nicer. I wanted to see my mommy, but I couldn't find her. Eruk-san said she was probably asleep. I was finally ready to be at peace, so I went to sleep too, hoping to find my mommy.  
  
The next thing I knew, something was tugging me out of my sleep. I fought it at first--I didn't want to wake up! But then I was completely pulled out of it and I found myself facing a boy who looked to be a few years older than me.  
  
"I am now your master," he told me, and everyone around me. Everyone who had died was standing with me in a straight line and the boy was smiling, although his light green eyes remained cold and unfeeling. "I have awoken you. I am HellMaster Phibrizzo and you are now all my puppets."  
  
It was true. We could move, and talk, and pretend to live normal lives, just as long as it didn't go against his plans. In a sense, we were alive--and yet, we weren't. Sure, Phibrizzo-sama erected Sairaag as it had once been, but it wasn't the same. Flagoon, the holy tree that protected us, was gone. Our hearts were not beating. We were little more than zombies.  
  
While we waited for Phibrizzo-sama's instructions, I visited Eruk-san. He was so sad…he missed Oneechan, just like I missed her. He wanted to find her, but couldn't go against Phibrizzo-sama's will.  
  
Now, some of you may ask, _why didn't you just break free? A bunch of you against one little kid? Child's play!_  
  
It wasn't. In the way that a dragon is in control of its devastating flame, or a powerful magic-user is in control of their spells, Phibrizzo-sama was in control of us. "HellMaster" described him perfectly--for he ruled the dead, and we owed him our pitiful half-lives. He was our Creator and we could not defy him. We had to obey him. All the while, our true souls were trapped inside this big blue crystal. It was really pretty, but as long as we remained inside of it, we could not return to our eternal slumber.  
  
Finally, he appeared before us to give us his instructions.  
  
"I have taken Lina Inverse's swordsman companion," he stated. "She and her friends will be arriving here. I want you to chase her to me. Keep her from escaping, at all costs. If you fail…"  
  
He trailed off, and we all had a mental image of that imprisoning crystal…keeping us sealed in indefinitely. We understood.  
  
I snap out of my musings, realizing that I can hear shrieks, explosions and yells up ahead. The others must have found Lina Inverse. I break into a run, ready to help fight for my master.  
  
Unfortunately, it is not Lina Inverse the people are surrounding. It is a girl with short black hair, a man who seems to be made out of stone, and an older girl with curly sea-green hair and hardly any clothes on. Scary winged monsters hover overhead, but they will not hurt me. They are here for these three. But Lina Inverse isn't among them. So I continue past them.  
  
As I run, I allow myself a naughty giggle. My plan is foolproof: threaten Lina Inverse with my knife, keep her from running away, and herd her toward Phibrizzo-sama's temple, where he awaits her. I feel bad for Gourry-san, who is being used as bait, but not too bad. I am assisting my master and maybe this will free us from his bondage.  
  
There! Up ahead! I see her, standing tersely in the middle of yet another circle formed by my neighbors. But she's not alone. Someone else is with her…another girl, with long black hair…if I didn't know any better, I'd say that was--  
  
She turns slightly and the moonlight tells me what I wish wasn't so. It's _Oneechan_! Oneechan is with Lina Inverse!  
  
I don't know what to do. Phibrizzo-sama told us to show no mercy to Lina Inverse's friends. But…I can't hurt Oneechan! She showed me so much kindness…I don't want to kill her!  
  
**_OBEY._**  
  
I have no choice. I never did. But maybe if I just go for Lina Inverse, Oneechan will stay out of the way and I won't have to hurt her. She'll be so happy to see me! She'll be so grateful to Phibrizzo-sama for bringing us back!  
  
I grasp the knife tighter and smooth out my blue dress before I launch myself at Lina Inverse, surprising myself with a desperate speed I never knew I had. This is it!  
  
Lina whirls around, her ruby eyes narrowed. But she doesn't run. Instead, I find her blade sinking into my body. The pain is immense--but it _shouldn't_ hurt! I'm dead!  
  
A scream, consisting of my childish terror and pain, tears itself from my throat and I see my blood dotting the air, drifting down in a crimson arc before the horrified face of Lina Inverse. Oneechan looks just as appalled, and I know she has recognized me.  
  
The ground rises up to meet my body, which slams upon it cruelly. My knife hits a few seconds after I do and clatters away from me. I cannot move. Am I dead again? Have I been freed?  
  
No. I remain aware of what is going on around me, although slowly, my consciousness is being dragged back to the crystal. But I hear voices.  
  
"A…a little kid?! I killed her…! I just…! I just…!" Lina Inverse sounds panicked, her sentences jerking out almost incoherently.  
  
"No! No, you didn't!" _Oneechan?_ Her next words make my heart twist agonizingly…if it had been beating.  
  
"She was already dead! Dead for a long time! So you didn't do it! Do you understand me?! You didn't do it! So, please…!"  
  
Oneechan has let us go. She has acknowledged our deaths and I feel myself being forced into a stifling blackness, so unlike my once peaceful repose. But still…I am aware of what is happening, even though the crystal holds my entire essence once again.  
  
Lina Inverse saved Gourry Gabriev. Oneechan and all of her friends died in the process, but is that what it means when they say "the ends justify the means"? Phibrizzo-sama used us one last time, drawing power from our tormented souls to try to destroy Lina. But it didn't work and only got him killed. Anyway, Gourry-san and his friends were brought back to life after Lina cast this really powerful spell that could've destroyed the world! As for me and the rest…  
  
Phibrizzo-sama died. And our crystal was shattered, freeing our souls. At first, as my controlled body dissipated in a cloud of black smoky vapor, I didn't want to go. I was ashamed of myself.  
  
"Be a good girl", my daddy had told me. His last words to me…and I had done so many bad things. I wasn't a good girl. I had tried to hurt Lina Inverse and I had died again for such a crime. I don't blame her. I only hope she forgave herself for that. She made it up when she liberated us all.  
  
As I ascended to my destined resting place up above the highest clouds, I looked down. Sairaag was gone again…but it was better that way. Who needed a fake place with zombies? Maybe Oneechan would rebuild it some day. I know Eruk-san was real proud of her for all that she did for us. I am too.  
  
Up ahead, a beautiful woman with flowing long brown hair held out her arms to me, smiling sweetly. Pearly tears rolled down her face, but she kept smiling.  
  
And after many years, after what seemed like an eternity of suffering, I flew into my mommy's warm embrace and we departed for an uninterrupted slumber.  
  
Thank you, Oneechan, for doing all you could to help us rest in peace once more. Thank you, Amelia and Zelgadis and the strange girl and man with the funny hat for doing your best to defeat my former master.  
  
Finally…thank you, Lina Inverse, for severing our strings, killing the puppet master and releasing us to the heavens. Thank you for having the courage and love to save Gourry-san and all of us. Thank you for reuniting me with my mommy.  
  
My tale is done and I can finally rest now.  
  
-**OOC**-  
  
I don't know what people will say about this. To be truthful, it wore me out, but I'm proud of it. I guess I own Mera's history, but that's it. Please review and thank you!


End file.
